Her Darkened Soul
by Ahsilaa
Summary: Jeremy. My basterd of a best friend. Hah! He wouldn't know the meaning of the words if they bit him on his arse. I should have forgotten about him the moment Viki Donovan ran off but nope. I was the type of person that didn't let their friends down. Oh - and there was the fact that I was hopelessly in love with him. But now Jeremy is dead. Nothing can bring him back. Nothing.
1. Chapter 1: Heart of Darkness

_**New story, sorry for all those who are waiting on my Doctor Who one - and I am working on it, I just have a bit of writers block. Hopefully, this will ease you off the waiting and I can hopefully get the DW one back on track. Latest is by Christmas, I promise. **_

_**For now though, meet my very newest creation...I hope you like it.**_

* * *

**Heart Of Darkness**

_**Mystic Falls, September 2009**_

_Samantha Collins had watched as the Gilbert siblings had gone into the men's toilets. Without shame she walked up to the door and opened it slightly. "I gave you a summer pass, but I am done watching you destroy yourself. No, no, no, you know what? Go ahead. Keep it up. But just know that I am going to be there to ruin your buzz every time, you got it? Jeremy, I know who you are. And it's not this person. So don't be this person."_

_"I don't need this." Jeremy said angrily and walked out. Sam was waiting at the door for him as soon as he rushed out. Quietly she followed him to the small spot near the benches and watched him fall apart. _

_Brown hair flopped forward covering his hands and they held the tears in. She had seen him in that pose many times over the last two months and just like every other time, she walked over to him and brushed his hair away. _

_Startled, Jeremy looked up but seeing the familiar face he relaxed. "I can't do this Sammy." He choked out. "It's been months and I still see their faces every time I close my eyes." _

_Sam wrapped his broken form in her arms and shushed him gently. "I know Jer, I know. But we just have to keep going. It's what they would have wanted." She stroked his hair - something she knew would calm him down. _

_"I feel so alone Sammy." He mumbled. _

_"And remember what I said about that?" She asked. He nodded slightly. "Well? What was it?" She felt him chuckle slightly and smiled at the response. _

_"You told me that I was being stupid." He said. "You said that even if everyone I cared about left me, I would always remember them and they would always be there."_

_"And you're never alone Jer. Remember that." _

_**Mystic Falls, 2012**_

I was furious, livid. Words could not describe the anger I was feeling but I think those summed them up pretty well. If it wasn't bad enough that they had sent Jeremy away without telling me, they had compelled me to _forget him._

I marched up to the door with all intense and purpose to smash it down if necessary but goody-goody _Elena_ came out, bags all packed and ready to go on her road trip to wherever the hell they had sent Jeremy off too.

"Sam!" Elena screeched - surprised.

"Gilbert," I hissed. "Where the fuck do you think you're going without me?" I waited for her answer but she wasn't the one to give it.

"To see baby Gilbert freak. Not that's it's any of your business." My anger grew at the sound of Damon's voice.

"Don't test me Damon." I spat. I could feel my anger growing steadily - I had to control it or otherwise pretty soon it would need a release. "I am this close to killing you. I might rethink it if I go with you."

"You can't be around Jeremy Sam. Klaus compelled you to-" It was such a shame that I wasn't allowed to kill her. Klaus was specific in those rules but it didn't mean that I couldn't scare her. Quickly - faster than Damon could comprehend - I had her pinned to the door of the car, hand wrapped around her skinny neck.

"Damon..." I heard her gasp. He made a move to help her but I hissed at him. He must have learned his lesson from the last time because he stood still.

"I told you not to test me Gilbert. I listened when you said I should stay away from Jeremy after the whole Klaus fiasco, I understood when you wanted him to leave - but then you had me compelled to forget him!"

The tears were coming on now. I let Elena go and watched as she gasped for breath. "_Me, _Elena!"

Elena walked over to me carefully. She was scared that I was going to attack her again but she didn't have to. I had no more energy to attack her. "I'm sorry Sam. But we didn't know what Klaus had done to you - what hold he still has on you."

"I won't hurt him Elena. I swear. I won't even talk to him if you don't want - just let me see him again." I pleaded. Some part of my mind laughed at me. Jeremy was my one weakness - he was the only one that could get a response that wasn't anger anymore. "I miss him so much."

Something in Elena's eyes changed from determination to pity, and it must have been because of my behaviour because she allowed me to go. Pretty soon we were on a plane to Denver.

**{}{}{}{}{}**

"There he is." She said pointing to Jeremy. I hadn't even talked to him and I felt a little better. We had been best friends since Primary School - he had reputedly told me to call in Middle School but I would always refuse. I had my British heritage to uphold after all.

"Next time we compel him, remind me to make him better at baseball." Damon said snarkily.

"Piss off Damon. How about next time you just don't compel him?" I muttered knowing he could hear me. Jeremy was awesome at baseball. His dad had taught him. The only time he was bad at it was when he was too busy thinking about something.

"Hey, Jer." Apparently, while I had been recalling old - treasured - memories, Elena was getting straight to the point.

"Elena?" He asked. Then he turned to me and his smile got brighter instantly. It was nice to see that I still had that affect on him. "Sammy?" He asked - like he was shocked to see me. And he should have been. The last time I saw him, I had been compelled to forget him. I saw how much it had hurt him and at the time I couldn't have cared less. Now though, it broke my heart.

"Jeremy." I whispered. I ran to the entrance to the cages and sped in there. As soon as I was near him I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly. It would have been a challenge had I not been wearing heels. Jeremy had grown to around 6 foot last summer and I had been dwarfed in comparison.

"What are you doing here?" Then he must have seen Damon and instantly his smile fell. Hah! Damon had that affect on a lot of people. "What's wrong?"

_**Mystic Falls, May 2011**_

_"What's wrong? Sammy? Sammy?" She was on the floor screaming in pain. Something was tearing into her - something that shouldn't be happening was happening. _

_She screamed again and clutched at her heart. "Sammy!" _

_"Make it stop! Make it STOP!" She screamed curling into herself. Alaric rushed in, hearing the screams of pain from where he was. _

_"What's wrong?" He asked, crouching down to hold Sam's thrashing limbs in place but she suddenly seemed a lot stronger than he was. _

_"I don't know. One minute she was fine and then next she was screaming in pain. What's happening to her Ric?" He asked clutching the moaning girl close to him. He could feel the panic start as he watched his best friend cry but there was nothing he could do about it. _

_Suddenly Sam arched. Her body making an unnatural shape just before she slumped to the ground. Unmoving. Jeremy paused for a moment still clutching her to his chest but he could feel a difference. _

_He couldn't hear her breathing. _

_"Sam?" He asked tentively. No answer. "Sam? Sammy? Wake up!" But she wasn't moving. Jeremy put a finger to her neck but he could feel no pulse. _

_"Don't do this to me Sam! Not you!" He begged. He began pumping her heart with his hands, trying to get it starting again. "You can't die. You PROMISED!" But there was still no response. _

_"Jeremy." Alaric gently took his hands away from the girl. _

_"No. She promised Ric. She promised she wouldn't leave me." He cried. _

_"It's going to be alright Jeremy. It'll be alright." _

_Jeremy cried into Sam's shoulder. Sam couldn't be dead - not his Sammy. She was the most dependable girl in the world. She had never let him down. Never. But now she was gone. "I'm sorry Sammy." He whispered. _

_Then there was a gasp. A huge living gasp and it had come from Sam. _

_**Denver, April 2012**_

"Katherine sired us, Rose sired Katherine. All we need to do is find out who sired Rose." Damon explained. All the while I hadn't moved from Jeremy's side and was constantly playing with his hand.

"So you travelled across the country to get me to talk to a dead vampire?" He asked, honestly sounding a bit annoyed.

"No," I interrupted. "_They _travelled across country to ask you to talk to a dead vamp. _I _travelled across a country 'cause I missed you." Jeremy rolled his eyes but I could see the grin on his face from where I was standing.

"Dead vampire's redundant, but yes." Damon said.

"Well, I can't. I can talk to Anna and Vickie because I knew them. I've never even met Rose."

"And that's where the witch freak comes in." I felt Jeremy's hand tense but I gave it a reassuring squeeze. I couldn't be bothered to waste my time focusing on Damon. Who knew how long it would be before I saw Jeremy again.

"Rose managed to particularly piss your girlfriend over there enough that we should have a pretty strong connection."

"Let it go Jer." I told him before he replied to the remark the same way he had thousands of times.

"Fine, fine." He succumbed. "Can we do this later? My friend just got here. And yes, Damon, I actually have some. I'll call you when I'm done."

"Jer..." I had to admit, that remark stung a little. Jeremy had made friends - which don't get me wrong was a good thing, but the fact that he had so blatantly brushed me aside smarted a little.

What I hadn't expected though, was the fact that it was Kol. Kol as in Klaus' brother Kol. The one that was particularly nasty.

"Damon, it's Kol!" She didn't have enough time though because as soon as it was said, Kol had hit Damon in the face it a wooden bat. Instinctively I ran in front of Jeremy to stop him getting hurt.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jeremy asked, shocked at what he had just seen happen.

"Jeremy, get back, he's an original!" At that point I lost focus of the conversation. I focused all my energy on stopping Kol's heart in its tracks. Kol lifted the bat to hit Damon again but I concentrated harder. Suddenly, he clutched at his heart and fell to the ground - momentarily dead.

I felt dizzy. I hated to admit it but killing an Original - temporarily or otherwise - was a lot more strain on me that it was for a normal vamp. The dizziness passed quicly enough though and I was fine again.

"Did you kill him?" Jeremy asked. I think he was a bit surprised at the turn of events. I wasn't too pleased about it either. He had been sent away to keep him out of this mess. Elena, with all her omniscience had managed to put him slap bang in the middle of the second worse vampire in all of history.

"I wish." I spat.

**{}{}{}{}{}**

"For the record, she's the one who wanted to stop in a motel, not me."

"Shut up Damon." I growled as I sat on the bed. I hadn't brought anything with me unlike the other two. I hadn't really planned it and I was sure that Klaus would kill me once I got back to Mystic Falls.

"So where are we?" Jeremy asked looking around the dingy room. I mean seriously, with all the money Damon had, couldn't he at least get a better room?

"Corner of somewhere, and nowhere were Kol can't find us." He answered.

"I can't believe Kol was a vampire." Was that slight sadness I heard I his voice? For his sake I would hope it wasn't.

"Well, didn't you find it weird that you made a friend so fast? Have you met you?" I turned around and punched him hard in the arm. "Ow!" He cried. "Oh yeh, there's you. Well I guess you freaks have to stick together.

"Elena. Control your pet." I told her whilst glaring at the blue eyed prick.

"Not helping Sam." She told me. Like I gave a shit."This should work. Right, Jer?"

"Yeah. It doesn't really matter."

"All right, Whoopi. What do you need, candles, incense, pottery wheel?" He did that thing with his eyebrows that made me want to wax them off.

"That's not how it works." Jeremy told him.

"I know, I know. They push from the other side and you pull from this one."

"All right," he said sitting down next to me. "You, uh, you got a picture of her?" He asked.

"I've got a picture of me wanting to strangle her," Jeremy sighed.

"All right, uh, tell me something about her." I rolled my eyes and thought of the least annoying thing about Rose.

"Fine. She was loyal. That was the one thing about her that I liked. She stayed with that guy till the end. What was his name?"

"She was like you in that way." I suppose that wasn't the worst thing I could be compared to. Especially now. "She's here." Jer informed us. On cue, Rose appeared on the bed next to Damon. This time, I could actually see the ghost, not just feel their presence.

"Is she lonely on the other side?" Elena asked.

"No. I enjoy it. I was running so much when I was alive. Now I have the freedom to do whatever I want. And thank you for the compliment Sam." She looked at me as she said it and I pretended she wasn't there.

"She says not to worry, she's happy - and she thanks Sam for the compliment."

"It's Samantha to you Rosie." I told her, smiling in her direction. Jeremy looked at me oddly but ignored it. The most he knew was that I could sense the spirits. It seemed like my powers had grown stronger. _Goodie._

"Is she still hot?" A very Damon-esque question to ask. Why am I not surprised?

"Tell him he's still dripping with sex, too." Jeremy raised his eyebrows at the answer and looked at her. "Fine. Tell him I miss him."

"She misses you."

"And tell him that I'm rooting for him and Elena." He looked at Elena in confusion.

"She, uh, she misses both of you." Elena seemed pleased but I rolled my eyes.

"Yeh that's a bare faced lie Jer. But don't worry. I won't tell." This time the weird look came from Elena but once again, I didn't give a flying monkey.

"Unfortunately I don't have any news on the siring front. Klaus didn't sire me. No original did. It was Mary Porter."

"She was sired by someone named Mary Porter."

Damon seemed to recognise the name because his eyes sparked with interest. "Ahh, scary Mary. Well, where is she, Rose?"

"I didn't keep track of her when I was alive, much less now. Tell them to sit tight. Relax. I'll see what I can find out." Then Rose was gone.

"Well that was anti-climatic." I said in a bored tone. Jeremy gave a look. "What's that look for?" I asked.

"Careful Sammy. You're starting to sound like Klaus." There was that concern I had thought he had lost. Apparently, he was allowed to be worried about me but it was not mutual on both parts. So not fair.

"Must be his compulsion." I shrugged.

"What?" He asked. "What's Klaus done to you?"

"Seriously?" I asked Elena. "Do you not talk to your brother?"

She gave me a look that clearly stated 'don't go there' but I didn't care. Finally she answered. "Just before you left, we found out that Klaus knew the reason why Sam is the way she is. He took her-"

"Kidnapped was more like it." I interrupted.

"- and then he compelled her. To forget about you and to do as he says." His eyes cleared as he realised why I had treated him the way I had the last time we had met.

"But why are you so different?" He asked. I looked away. I didn't like him looking at me like that; like I was broken. Maybe it was because I was.

"I'm Sired to him." I said quietly. Jeremy blinked in shock and I wrapped my arms around myself. "After you left, I found my dad. He was a Warlock." We had already known that - my mother had sent me to Mystic Falls to figure it out. That was done with the help of Bonnie's grandma.

"But my mother met with Klaus while she was pregnant with me. She ingested some of his blood and that transferred to me."

"What happened?" He asked gently. I swallowed the pit in my throat before I continued. Jeremy, seeing my discomfort wrapped his arms around me. His closeness gave me the strength I needed to carry on. Some distant part of me registered that Elena had walked out the door and it reminded me to thank her for that later. I hadn't told them this bit.

"Nature needed a balance. Klaus was a werewolf/vampire hybrid so it created a witch strong enough to kill him." I felt his arms tighten. "I was a still birth. But Klaus had been feeding my mother his blood and…you can guess what happened. I came back.

"But the witch side fought and won. The vampire side was dormant - until the sacrifice. We didn't know it at the time but that pain that I was feeling, the wrongness I felt afterwards, it was my vampire side."

"But how are you sired to him?" He asked softly.

"It was Klaus' blood that turned me - he held some control over me. It's almost like his hybrid's but this Siring seems to stem from love." He looked at me confusedly so I explained. "The more I love, the easier it is for him to control me."

"Then why did he compel you to forget me."

"He thought it was the other way around. By the time he took it off, you had already gone." Jeremy was my one weakness - literally. But he was also my strength. I didn't know what was more ironic. "Klaus knew that I couldn't turn it off. The witch part wouldn't let me, so he threatened your safety."

He grabbed me into a tighter hug - like he never wanted to let go. And honestly, I didn't want to."Don't so that Sammy. Not for me."

"Don't you get it Jer. You're the only one I would do that for." I brought his head up and looked him in the eyes. I could see the confusion and the want to help me swirl through them and I hoped he could see my love for him in them.

"I love you Jeremy. And not like a best friend. It killed me to see you with Bonnie and Anna. I got so jealous. But I didn't tell you because you needed a friend - but I'm telling you now. I've never loved anyone before and honestly it's fucking scary but there it is. I love you Jer."

For the first time, I noticed that his arms were built to perfectly fit around me. It made me feel safe and loved. My hand slowly grazed up his back and found itself nestled in the back of his hair. Still though he hadn't said anything. I felt my heart drop and I closed my eyes.

I looked down and began to move away from him but he caught my had just before I could let go. I froze and opened my eyes to stare at him. He looked at me. It was that intense look that I knew he got when he was about to do something. His clear chocolate eyes were swimming with an emotion that I, for the life of me couldn't describe.

And then his gaze fell to my lips.

My breath hitched in my throat and I instinctively moved closer. All I could think about was the way he was looking at me. Such an intense stare that it burned its way into my broken soul and threatened to make me love him even more than I already did.

His hand brushed away my raven curls and rested on my cheek. I licked my lips that were suddenly dry and moved forward.

We were inches apart. He was so close that I could feel his minty breath on me. He had been chewing gum.

Slowly, he leaned his head in closer to mine and could feel my heart quicken. I leaned in, closer and closer - our lips almost touching.

"Well isn't this cute." Damon's voice rang out through the too still room and startled us. I jumped away and grabbed my coat, heading out the door and down the stairs quickly.

"Sammy!" I heard Jeremy call but I ignored him. God what was I thinking? I couldn't let this happen. Jeremy would be in so much danger if I did this and Klaus would have another thing to threaten me with.

I sat on a bench and covered my face with my hands. I couldn't do this.

I was already in too deep with Jer, but maybe I could stop him. It wouldn't hurt so much later on when someone good for him - someone _human_ came along. Jeremy deserved a normal life. The fact that he had gotten away was indication that he _could_ have a normal life.

A buzzing from my pocket indicated that I had a text. _Found Mary. Sending you the address. Need to talk. Jeremy. _

I groaned as I typed out the reply. _Meet you there. S_

**{}{}{}{}{}**

"This is the address."

"Looks about right." The house was shabby and looked dirty even from the outside.

"Yeh, I'm not going in there With my luck I'll catch tetanus." Elena looked from me to Jeremy.

"Wait here with Sam." She told him.

"Why? So you guys can make out some more?" I looked at him surprised. That was news to me. Obviously, more had happened since I had left that I realised.

"Don't be a dick." Damon ordered. "Listen to your sister."

"Don't be a prick Damon. He has a point." Damon glared at me and I ignored it. Even with my resolution, it was hard not to defend Jeremy. It was like an automatic response.

Unfortunately that automatic response left me with Jeremy all alone after a somewhat awkward situation. And he had to be the only decent guy in the world - which was very annoying - he wanted to _talk._

"Let it go Jer." I said tiredly but he shook his head.

"I can't Sam. You told me that you loved me." I shut my eyes tightly. I really didn't want to do this now. I didn't have the energy.

"We can't do this now Jer. If Kol finds us, my concentration needs to be on him okay?"

"What? So you can save my sister? So you can help her and Damon?" Oh her was angry now. Two could play at hat game.

"I don't think you understand Jeremy. Klaus is my Sire which means three things. One, I can't let Elena die or I get killed and two, everything that I've done, I've done for you so don't try and pull that card with me Gilbert. Now shut up!"

He knew when I was in this mood it was better to listen to what I was saying. Besides, he still looked angry and anger was safer for him than love at the moment. If Klaus was killed and I didn't die then by all means. But till then…

A loud crash sounded from inside the house.

I had a pissed off Original to deal with.

**{}{}{}{}{}**

I was sitting in the back of the car after this horrible day. Jeremy was coming home though so I suppose it was a good thing. Bad news, Mary god-knows-her-name was killed - probably by Kol so they don't know who created that bloodline. More bad news, Jeremy was now in terrible danger. Plus, he wanted to talk. Still.

He was beside me now, well I had a window seat and he had the other. I closed my eyes and wished that I could just fall asleep till we got home. Luckily for me, my wish was granted.

Jeremy's POV

I watched Sammy fall asleep. She always did in the car; something about the motion making her feel calm.

We had been through so much together. That was before any of the supernatural stuff had started. She was my best friend - she still is. Now though…I was sure that I loved her. As a friend and as more but before anything I wanted to be sure.

So much had happened to her that I didn't want to hurt her anymore that she was. It wouldn't be fair to her.

"Are we there yet?" I jumped at Rose's voice. "Don't tell them I'm here. They had a fight. I know you want to stop it. Protect her from it. But you're young. You don't see what I see. It's not just that she makes him a better person. She does, but... he changes her, too. Damon challenges her. Surprises her. He makes her question her life. Beliefs. Stefan is different. His love is pure. And he'll always be good for her. Damon is either the best thing for her, or the worst."

She could be right but I didn't think she was. One thing was for sure though; Damon was definitely changing my sister. I just didn't know if it was for good.

"Oh and Jeremy," I turned to look at her. "You definitely love Sam. I'm dead and even I can see it. Just, don't wait too long to tell her. A girl needs to hear these things." She vanished after that and I was alone with a feuding Damon and Elena and my thoughts about the vampire/witch hybrid sleeping beside me that I was pretty sure I was in love with.


	2. Chapter 2: Do Not Go Gentle

** Anyone in Britain may know about the Apollo ****Theater. If you don't then at 8.00pm on the 19th of December, the roof of the Apollo Theatre collapsed 45 miniuets into a showing of _The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime' _There where no deaths - thank God - but there where 7 seriously injured. **

**Many of the serious injureies where to the head, back and the neck. **

**Please, pray for them to have a swift recovery if you are religious and if you aren't, send them recovering thoughts. Thank you. **

* * *

**Do Not Go Gentle**

School - it was the worst thing in the world. It was bad enough when Jeremy and I weren't being awkward but now? It was hell. This stupid dance was supposed to be fun but here I was, stuck with the guys, Rebekkah and Caroline fighting over the theme and Klaus wanting me to create a distraction for tonight.

I remembered a time when things were so much simpler.

_**Mystic Falls, January, 2009**_

_"Why did I come here again?" Jeremy asked. Sam looked at him and grinned largely. They were at the Mystic Rink and she had brought him there to ice skate. _

_"Because Jer, you have never been ice skating before." She pulled his hand forward and his body followed willingly. "That's just tragic."_

_"Not all of us are Elite figure skaters Sammy. I'll just be going round and round in circles." _

_Sam looked at him with pleading eyes. With the light shining into them, they sparkled a brilliant emerald and she hypnotized him without even meaning to. "Fine." She giggled and pulled him along to the entrance. _

_"Sam!" A tall blonde haired guy called out. "You back here again?" _

_"I'm showing Jeremy here how awesome ice skating is. He's never been - but were gonna fix that." Jeremy went to pay for the ticked but Sam stopped him. "Nope. Dave owes me. This one is on him." Shrugging, Jeremy followed Sam through to the back where there were rows of lockers. _

_"Where are your skates?" He asked. Sam pointed to the locker near them. "What about mine?" She pointed to the small window that Dave was looking out through. _

_"Just tell him your size and he'll know what to get you okay. Meet me out on the ice." She rushed to get her skates and left the room leaving Jeremy to his own devices. _

_"What's your size man?" Dave asked. Jeremy gave him the size and not too long later Dave came back with a pair of black skates. _

_"Is she any good?" Jeremy asked. He'd never seen her practice - it was a part of her that she didn't show to many people. Her mom had taught her before she left England and now she went to the rink when she wanted to be close to her. _

_"Sam's one of the best for her age I've ever seen." Dave told him. "I think her coach wants her to try pairs - and Donna never wants anyone to try for pairs." Jeremy nodded and put the skates on. He ran a hand through his hair as he walked out to the rink. _

_How hard could this be? He had been rollerblading before and he was decent at that. He saw her skating around the rink and it took his breath away. He had never seen anyone skate like that - not even in those movies she made him watch. _

_Sam was doing the routine her mother had won nationals with. She had watched the tape hundreds of times, she had gotten Donna to teach her how to land her tripple lux for weeks until she got it perfectly. _

_She stopped when she saw Jeremy watching her and blushed lightly but it was hidden by the flush of heat she had worked up while doing the routine. She skated up to him and smiled. "Come on then," she motioned him to join her. _

_"Why did you stop?" He asked her. "You looked so beautiful on the ice." She blushed again and took his hand, pulling him gently onto the ice. _

_"Because this is about you having fun Jer, so come on and stop being a baby." He laughed and got onto the ice - almost tripping straight away. Maybe this would be a bit trickier than rollerblading._

_**Mystic Falls, April, 2012**_

The dance was alive with people having a good time. All our hard work had paid off in the end; it genuinely looked like something out of a 20's movie. I suppose that with all Rebekkah's years of living, she had really enjoyed the 20s.

Whatever. I wasn't having fun. Sure I was _pretending_ but there was only so much of all the lovey-dovey couples I could take.

Caroline and Tyler where here. They were so bloody in love that Tyler had somehow managed to break his Sire Bond to Klaus - of course I wasn't supposed to know that but as long as Klaus didn't outright ask me, I was good.

And of course it was those two that managed to have their happily ever after - it wasn't like Tyler's bond was subjected to love like mine was. It was ironic that his salvation was my downfall. But hey - que sera, sera right? What the fuck ever.

If that wasn't bad enough, Elena and Stephan had just walked in and they were all loved up as well. At least they were having problems though. I smiled as I thought about the conversation I had overheard in school. For vampires, they really weren't that observant.

From the corner of my eye I could see Jeremy with a glass in his hand. I bit my lip as my heart sped up a little at how good he looked in his suit. He was so handsome, just standing there that I couldn't help but stare. But then he turned to look at me and I lowered my gaze pretty damn quickly.

He began walking towards me and I sighed. There was nowhere to run - literally. The dance floor was so packed that I couldn't get anywhere if I tried. That didn't mean I didn't look for the exit though.

"Going somewhere?" Shit. My shoulders slumped but it still didn't turn to look at him. Maybe if I ignored him he would go away. A long story short; it didn't work.

Jeremy's hand grabbed onto my wrist and for a brief second I felt his warmth on mine and it made me feel giddy and high. He turned me round so I was facing him and he looked at me. "We still need to talk Sammy." His voice was quiet over the music but my vamp senses picked the words up easily enough.

"God dam it Jer. You Gilberts are so freaking persistent." I mumbled.

"How else am I supposed to get through to you? You Collins' are so freaking stubborn." He joked. I smiled a small sad smile - one that didn't reach my eyes. "Seriously Sammy." He took my other hand in his and transferred the original one onto my waist.

I felt the skin tingle under my dress where his hand was as I put mine on his shoulder.

"We can't Jer." I pleaded with him. He was dancing in time with the beat of the music and I was suddenly taken back to the first time his mum had made him sign up for dance classes. He had begged me to go with him as his partner and I agreed. I closed my eyes and rested my head on his chest, still moving with him - just…enjoying the moment.

"Why not Sammy? Give me one good reason and I'll drop it." I could hear the promise in his voice and I tightened my already shut eyes in exasperation.

"Because if you start loving me then sooner or later Klaus is going to make me do something that will break your heart," I snorted. "If I anger him enough Jer, he might even _kill_ you - and I _refuse_ to let that happen!"

"So what, you're just going to ignore me? Keep your distance from me?"

"If it keeps you alive then _yes!_ Because you are _the_ most important thing in the world to me and you've already been put in danger because of me. I won't let you die." I could feel my emotions raising my powers. If I wasn't careful this dance would end sooner than expected.

"I have the Gilbert ring!" I pulled away from him and glared.

"So it's alright to be with you because if you die enough times, you can turn into a psychopath? That isn't an option either!" I said loudly. A couple of people stared at me and I glared at them. They quickly looked away but this wasn't a conversation to be overheard.

I grabbed Jeremy's hand and pulled him into a quiet corridor. "What happens if you die some other way? There are so many ways Klaus can have you killed that will count as natural Jeremy." He opened his mouth to argue. "No!" I interrupted. "I gave you a reason now drop it!" I hissed.

He glared at me. "Fine. I'll let it go." He told me. I breathed a sigh of relief but when I looked at him again I could see in his eyes that he wasn't going to give up. He was going to keep at it until he got his way and that worried me to no end.

Jeremy walked away and left me standing in that corridor. Honestly, it stung that he was doing this but it was for the best.

I walked back to the dance and froze when I saw that Klaus was there. He was dancing with Caroline and was thankfully too busy to notice me. Unfortunately, that didn't last long.

He turned and saw me. You didn't need to be a genius to know that he wanted to speak to me so I waited till he left and followed him out. "Have you set up a distraction yet?" He asked. I nodded in answer. "Good."

He pulled out his phone and pressed a couple of buttons. "Rebekkah, call me back immediately. I only came to this ridiculous dance because you begged me to, and now you're nowhere to be found."

He then stopped and looked at something. I turned to look at it as well and saw that it was salt. "Shit." I whispered.

"What is this?"He asked me.

"It's uh…its salt." I said frowning. Salt was the binding agent of a spell but it hadn't been used for years Witches and Warlocks used the juice of mint leaves now - it was more flexible with the spells they wanted to use. Salt was old magic.

"Your mother's back." Great. Just freaking great.

**{}{}{}{}{}**

"She does this all the time, right?" The 'she' the guy was referring to was Bonnie. Klaus had rounded up the Salvatore brother, Bonnie, Jeremy, Matt and I to try and find a way out of this literal prison.

"What's taking so long?" Klaus asked impatiently. "All boundary spells have a loophole."

"Not when the spell has been cast by the Original Witch," I muttered. Klaus had instructed me to give Bonnie some of my magic so I was currently transferring myself to her. Jeremy kept giving me worried glances.

"People are walking right out of the dance, past the barrier." Matt said. When had he gotten there? I was so busy concentrating; I couldn't focus on anything else.

"Well, if Matt and I can leave, we could stop Esther ourselves. We just gotta find out where she is."

Oh I heard that. "No fucking way." My concentration was broken slightly and I was giving out less magic. "That's suicide Jeremy."

Klaus rushed forward and started strangling Jeremy and I shrieked in surprise. "Suicide would be disappointing me. Now work your magic, witch, or I'll start killing people who matter to you."

"Let him go Klaus!" I shouted, anger rolling in waves.

"Ordering me around love? I don't think so." I could see Jeremy getting redder in the face as he struggled to breathe and I felt panic as I watched him. He was _dying _and I couldn't do anything about it.

"Let him go." Bonnie ordered.

"Not until you and Sam get us out of here."

"Ah, don't be stupid, Klaus. Sam doesn't give a damn about us. The only reason she's helping right now because of her Sire Bond. If you start killing the people she cares about, she'll tell us all to go to hell." I don't think I had loved someone more in one moment than that one. Klaus seemed to believe what Stephan had told him because he let Jeremy go.

I rushed over to Jeremy and looked him over. He would have a bruised neck but it wasn't fatal. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Get to work."

Soon enough, Bonnie had found something she could latch on to. It required Jeremy giving his blood for a locator spell – something I was not pleased about in any shape or form – but it allowed them to find Elena.

Klaus had ordered me to his side the moment Jeremy and Matt had walked past the barrier and I could do nothing about it. I couldn't _believe_ that Stephen was just going to let him go with a few bloody stakes and a gun. Ester was the _Original witch_! What did they think that a gun would stop her?

"Samantha dearest," Klaus began. I turned to look at him, not bothering to hide my hatred for him. "Walk through that barrier then come right back." I looked at him as if he was mental – he probably was.

"What the hell man? Are you high?" I gasped. "I can't walk through that thing I'm half vamp."

"Do it!" He growled. I felt the tugging of the Sire bond and I groaned. I began walking towards the barrier and closed my eyes, just waiting for the bang that would make me right. It didn't come.

I opened my eyes and saw two things. One was that I had passed the salt line, and the other was that Klaus was grinning like someone had just handed him the world on a silver platter. And then that annoying tug came again and I found myself walking back to his side.

"Well, it looks like we've found Ester's loophole." He said, grinning down at me. "No go and make sure the football player doesn't lose his head, else we'll have Bekkah on a temper tantrum." He was letting me go. "Oh and do remind me to thank the witch for your cooperation." Well, it was nice while it lasted.

_Mystic Falls, May, 2011_

_Something was very wrong. Something had happened during the ritual that had changed her so completely she didn't even know if she was Sam anymore. _

_She stared at the forest. Everything looked greener, clearer, and brighter. She could see the colours so much more vividly that she had the day before and it was wonderful – but it was also very bad. This change in her meant that she wasn't what she was supposed to be. _

_And there was that awful tugging. That horrible feeling that she was supposed to be somewhere else and the more she tried to fight it, the more she tried to remind herself of all the reasons why she had to stay where she was: Elena, Bonnie, Jeremy – the tugging increased. _

_Finally it had gotten so hard to stay away that at night she would find herself sleep walking. She would wake up and be in the middle of a road or on the corner of a street and each night she would get further and further away from home and closer to whatever she was being pulled towards. _

_Whatever it was though, she was sure that it was a bad thing. There was nothing natural about this feeling. Nothing her father had ever told her had described something like this. The closest she had read about it was the pull of nature towards a new witch but this was not that feeling. If nothing else, Sam was sure about that. _

_And then one night, Sam ended up in the middle of the woods. It was unknown land; she had tried to stay out the woods as much as she could but there was something in the stillness of the trees. They seemed to be lifeless. Like nature's corpses just waiting to do her biding. _

_With no other option, Sam sent out a message to the only person she knew that could help her. Closing her eyes and concentration on drawing her emotions for the spell, she began to send out a message. 'Bonnie? Come and find me. Come and help me!'_

_**Mystic Falls, April, 2012**_

I got to the cemetery just in time to see Ester raiser her hand. Her magic was making the boys turn their guns on one another. I could hear them, that was how close they were. I just needed to run faster.

"Matt. Matt, drop your gun!" I heard Jeremy.

"I can't." Matt said, panicking. "I'm not controlling it."

"Esther, stop it!" I shouted. She looked at me and her face paled. Something I didn't think could happen.

"You," she whispered. "You shouldn't be here." I didn't get the chance to ask her what the hell she was talking about because Alaric suddenly came up behind her and stabbed her in the back.

"Oh god. Where's my ring? Tell me what happened." The poor guy. I actually felt sorry for the dude and that was a hard emotion to get from me. I suppose I respected him …somewhat. He basically raised the Gilberts after Jenna had died and I think that helped them out a lot. Now though, well he was going to die.

Eventually, I assume, Bonnie told the guys stuck at the school that the barrier was down and I guess they rushed over because not tem minutes after Ester's passing, Damon and Stephan had brought the whole Scooby Do gang. Klaus included.

"Damon's here, and Klaus took Esther's body." And he left me? How nice of him.

"Does he know about the stake?" Alaric asked. I stopped fidgeting and began eavesdropping from my seat two metres away.

"No, only that she tried to turn you into a weapon and failed." So there was another stake that could kill him. That was good and bad at the same time I guess. "What's going on?"

"Listen, Jeremy... I'm not gonna complete the transition." I tensed. "My dark side was dangerous enough as a human. I can't be a vampire."

" So, what, we're just gonna lock you in here and let you die?" He asked angrily. There was no response from wither of them and Jeremy and I knew what that meant. "No. No, we can't!"

" Listen, Jeremy, it's the right thing to do, ok? After everything that's happened, after... after all that I've done... maybe I had it coming."

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever _heard._" I said from where I was sitting. I couldn't stand it anymore; all these people putting themselves down. I was beginning to think that they liked feeling depressed.

Jeremy shook his head and started to leave but I stopped him. "Do you really wanna walk away when these are the last few minutes you're going to get with him?" I asked. He shook his head at me and I smiled sadly. "I didn't think so."

"Please, you guys," Alaric said. "Let's not make this any harder than it already is. You two should go. Damon's here. He'll make sure it'll all go down the right way." Jeremy began to leave again and I glared at Alaric. 'Fix it,' I mouthed at him.

"Hey. Hey." Jeremy stopped and looked back at him, sadness in his eyes.

"Don't." He said. "Just don't give me some crap speech about how I need to be the man of the house."

"Ok. I won't." They hugged each other and I imagined it was one that a child would give to their father when they know they won't see them for a while. They let go of each other after a while, and when they did I could see the tears in Alaric's eyes.

As I turned to go he called out to me. "Sam?" I looked back at him waiting. "Watch out for Jeremy. You and Elena are the only constant thing he had left." I smiled at him and nodded but he didn't have to tell me.

This wasn't the first time Jeremy had lost family, and I had a feeling it wouldn't be the last. But whatever he went through, I would always be there for him and Alaric knew I would.

I walked outside to the entrance to the crypt and saw that Matt, Bonnie, Caroline, Tyler, Damon and Stephen, even Merideth were all standing beside each other so I stood next to Jeremy. Rick had been someone special. He had been family to everyone there in that gathering – even me but Jeremy…he looked so sad, so broken that I couldn't stop the tears gathering in my eyes. So I did the only thing I could do.

I wrapped him in an embrace. "Do you remember what I told you Jer?" I asked him softly.

Alaric came out with Elena standing beside him. He looked at us, all of us and I realized what he was doing. He was taking us in. Making sure that he had a picture of us all together for the last time with tears in his eyes and as I realized this, I felt my own tears trail down my face.

He looked towards Jeremy and I one more time and then walked back into the crypt with Damon following closely behind him and Elena watching him go sadly.

I felt Jeremy's arms pulling me closer to his body. He was hugging me back fiercely, like he was scared to let me go. "You told me that all I had to do was think about them and they would be there." He whispered.

I closed my eyes as I remembered the words I had spoken so long ago. "And that as long as you do that, you'll never be alone." And as I said that, I realized that this time, I wasn't only comforting Jeremy, I was comforting myself.

* * *

**I'm sorry it took so long - time flew by and next thing I knew it was the last day of school. Anyway, thank you for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3: Before Sunset

**Before Sunset**

There were generally a few things that were an unwritten rule in the best friend rule book: be there to cause trouble with best friend, be there when you're caught for causing trouble and help them with whatever they needed. Usually that meant covering for them when they were sneaking out to get high or occasionally rein them in when you know that what they were doing was ultimately doing more harm than good.

It did not however, include getting woken up at 6 am in the morning to come over and paint a dead guardian's room. So when Jeremy called me and I agreed, well that was just me being an extra special person.

It wasn't as big of a deal as it could have been though. I was already sleeping in their spare room having crashed out there whilemaking sure Jeremy wasn't doing anything stupid so, when he did wake me up, I did what he asked.

Two hours later, the room was almost done but there were still a couple of coats to do. Most of the time we had been working in silence and eventually I couldn't take it. I needed something to listen to and so I borrowed Jeremy's IPod.

"Seriously Jer?" I asked, flicking through his music.

"What?" He asked me innocently. Like he didn't already know that his taste in music was crap. I rolled my eyes and chucked it back at him. He would catch it, I knew he would. His IPod was like his baby. I didn't think that the paint brush would have dropped so near to me though and anyone who had ever dropped _anything_ will know that liquid splatters everywhere like a bitch.

And guess who the pain splattered on…me. "Ooh. You are going down Gilbert." I lifted the paint brush up towards he and he backed up into the corner.

"Don't do it Sammy. You'll just end up rolling in paint."

"Says the guy backing into the corner." I told him, still advancing with the paint brush in my hand. I raised the brush and flicked it at him sending splatters of white paint all over his top.

He looked down at the top and then back up to me shocked and I grinned. That grin fell when a determined look came over his eyes though. "You know," I said backing away as he picked up his roller. "Were kinda even now. I mean I was just getting back at you – no!" I hadn't raised my hands fast enough and suddenly there was a giant streak of white paint all down the front of my top. My _black_ top.

"Now were even." He said laughing at my face.

"Jer!" I whined. I rushed forward to tackle him but my foot got caught in the blanket and suddenly I was on my back, looking at a ceiling and could feel something wet and sticky. Jeremy was laughing so hard it looked like he was going to pass out and his laughter only increased when I stood up and turned around.

"You – are – the – clumsiest girl – ever." He said between trying to catch his breath.

"Yeh, yeh." I said rolling my eyes. Somehow, my hand had landed in the paint bucket and it was covered in white. I looked like Bella Swan after she went emo. I wiped it off on Jeremy's t-shirt with a smile. He was laughing, he was happy – even if it was only for a moment, he wasn't thinking about Ric.

"Are you alright?" He asked after calming down. I picked up his IPod – which had somehow managed to stay clean – and groaned.

"Not if I don't get to the school ASAP. Caroline is going to kill me!" He smirked at me and started painting again.

"You shouldn't have volunteered to help clean up then." He said smugly. The cocky prat.

"It's my good deed for the year." I told him. "I'll see you later okay?" I kissed him on the cheek and ran passed Elena who had finally changed into something 'suitable' to wear. I mean seriously, how long did it take to find clothes you were never going to wear again?

"Where are you going?" She asked as I rushed out.

"Can't talk. Caroline." I could hear her mummer of understanding as I hopped onto my scooter. I didn't have the money for a car but the scooter worked perfectly for me. I didn't have to spend as much money on petrol and I got there in just as much time – if not faster.

**{}{}{}{}{}{}**

"You're late." I heard Caroline as I walked into the hall.

"By five minutes." I told her. "Don't nag; it gives you a smoker's cough." She rolled her eyes and went back to her original task.

"You don't whine at her." Rebekkah's voice shocked me and I turned to see her standing behind me.

"That's because she actually likes me." I told her. She frowned and turned around to go somewhere. I didn't really care where she went I was just glad she was going. Don't get me wrong, there wasn't anything actually _wrong_ with Rebekkah, it was just that she was Klaus' sister and that made her incredibly annoying.

"What happened to your shirt?" Caroline asked.

"It's Jeremy's shirt and he got paint on it." She gave me The Caroline Look and I rolled my eyes. "Don't ask Caroline, just don't."

"Whatever." She carried on painting and I was quite fine with it. Caroline was way too perky for me at 8 o'clock in the morning. In a couple of hours…maybe I could tolerate the perkiness. Suddenly she froze, and Caroline's head inclined towards the door.

"What is-"

"Shhh!" Oh it must have been important if she had shushed me. Caroline would never do that so I stopped and listened.

"_You're supposed to be dead!" _

"_I am." _

I gasped. That was Alaric's voice. I heard something get paused against the locker and just like that Caroline was gone. I waited and listened. Something was happening and whatever it was, it wasn't good. But I couldn't just rush in there.

I reached into my back pocket for my phone but stopped short. My phone wasn't there. It wasn't there because I had taken it out last night before crashing on the Gilbert sofa. _Fuck!_

I stopped again as I heard something sliding across the floor. It was most likely Caroline and Klaus had given me specific and detailed instructions on watching out for her. Therefore, I had to do something.

_Fan-fucking-tastic! _I sighed internally. This wasn't going to be pleasant.

I blurred into the classroom that Alaric had taken Caroline in and slammed him across the floor. "Didn't anyone tell you it was rude to kill a lady?" I asked smirking slightly.

He glared at me and pushed me to the floor. I felt my head crack against the floor and the world momentarily span off its axis. "Vampire's are the exception to that rule." He said, glaring at me. I had began to heal while he had been talking and swept his feet under him.

"Guess I'm going to have to teach it to you again." I said. I raised my hands and focused my anger at him. I could feel the heat build up and the windows began to crack. This was all perfectly normal, only it wasn't affecting _him_.

"That's not going to work on me." He told me. He blurred over and grabbed my neck forcing me into the wall, effectively chocking me. "And speaking of teaching, I have a lesson for you." He grabbed my neck and twisted.

**{}{}{}{}{}{}**

When I woke my neck was sore, my head hurt and there was a painful feeling in my hands. The basterd had snapped my neck, tied me to a chair and stabbed me through the hands with pencils. I have to say I did not like this Alaric one bit. He was a sadistic son of a bitch.

He had also tied something around my mouth. I breathed in and it was uncomfortable and itchy. _Oh – _he was trying to weaken me with _vervain._ I _hated_ that plant.

In all my years in England, I had never once come across vervain then I move to freakin' Mystic Falls and there it is, by the dozen.

I was freakin' allergic to the plant – even as a human.

I groaned and sneezed at the same time and Alaric noticed. "Finally awake? Good." I turned to see Caroline in the exact same position as me only she looked like she was in a lot more pain.

By the time I turned back, Alaric was on a phone and I could hear Elena's voice on the other side. _"Whoever this is, it's not funny."  
_  
" Well, who else would it be?" He asked. I'm sure if I closed my eyes it would seem like he was the same Ric that I spoke to last night.

_"Ric?"_ I wanted to scream at her for being a idiot but every time I breathed the vervain in I would begin to cough.

"Listen, closely." He told her. "I'm at the school, I have Caroline and Sam - and if you wanna keep them alive, I need you to get into your car and come down here right away. If you tell anyone where you're going, I will kill Caroline first and then make Jeremy watch as I kill Sam."

I heard Elena's gasp and knew that she was going to come alone. I rated her stupidity. All she had to do was bring a few vampire – possibly Klaus and Bonnie and Alaric would be overpowered but Elena was human – for the most part. She was ruled by her emotions and naivety.

The phone was cut off and I began glaring at Alaric so intently that if my magic worked on him, he really would be dead. The thing he had over my face was loosening and I worked it off my face.

"You are a sick basterd Alaric." I spat. "Leave Elena alone! She has nothing to do with this!"

Alaric looked over to me and smirked. "That's not true at all. Elena is the key to everything." He said nothing after that – only grinned evilly.

I didn't understand what he was talking about. It didn't make any sense – Elena was unfortunate. "Ester has brainwashed you Alaric." I told him. He glared at me. "You know, I thought you would be better as a vampire but you put Klaus to shame."

"Don't compare me to him!" He spat.

"Ooh, you're a bit touchy about that aren't you? Klaus is exactly the same you know." His face grew angrier; the eyes became red and there where black veins around his face. Suddenly he was in front of me. I felt a blistering pain as I realized he had bit me and was now draining me.

I cried out in pain and he looked at me with my blood dripping down his chin. "It sounds like you aren't having a good time." He said. All I could do was clench my teeth and wait for the pain to go. It was taking its sweet time about it.

He walked over to his desk and opened it before taking something out. It was a syringe. "What-" I didn't get a chance to ask.

A searing, sharp, blistering pain erupted inside me as the needle was injected and this time I couldn't hold back the scream of pain. It was everywhere. The fire.

It was in my veins, my heart, even behind my eyelids – but mostly I could feel it in my heart.

I was being stabbed in the chest with a poker while someone poured acid and mixed it liquid nitrogen and fire. I couldn't breathe. I was seizing up. It was unbearable.

I wasn't aware of anything else apart from the pain. It trapped me in a haze of fire and I couldn't shake it off.

**()()()()()()()**

Elena watched as Sam began to seize up. "What have you done to her?" She cried as Alaric began dipping a cloth in something. He walked towards Caroline.

"No. No more. Please, no more." She begged. She couldn't take the pain anymore. She couldn't breathe – and when she did, the vervain stripped her throat to pieces.

"Alaric, stop!" Elena cried, getting up from her chair. "Stop it. Fix Sam. Leave Caroline alone." Alaric pushed Elena back down into her seat and Elena once again heard Sam's scream of pain.

"So demanding Elena. Tell me, have you ever been burnt? Well, that's what Sam is feeling now – only it's a thousand times worse. Poor Caroline would feel left out if I didn't give her some attention."

"Why are you doing this?" Elena cried. She couldn't bear to see either friend in pain and Sam's cries where cutting at her.

"To make it easier on you when you put her out of her misery."Alaric picked up the white oak stake and walked towards Elena.

"What? No!"

"Isn't this what you wanted, Elena? For me to teach you how to kill a vampire? Well, here are two Elena. Choose." He once again held the stake right in front of Elena, offering her the choice but Elena protested.

"This isn't what I want." She replied shaking her head.

"Of course it is. All those hours you spend training, getting stronger. You could be a hunter, Elena. But you've never actually staked a vampire through the heart."

Elena did nothing but stare at the stake held in front of her but she wouldn't take it. There was some part of her that wanted to believe that Ric was still in there. "Why are you doing this?" She asked him desperately.

"Because you need me." He told her. "Because you're an 18 year old girl without parents or guidance or any sense of right and wrong anymore."

"Look at you. How is this right?"

"She's a murderer. She told me she killed someone and liked it. Now, how is that right? Listen, Elena, your parents led the council. It was their lives' mission to keep this tow safe. They weren't dead 6 months before you undid it all." There was a pang of guilt in her heart as she heard these words.

"You don't know anything about them." She bit back, refusing to believe the words he was saying.

"Why am I wrong? Do you actually think that they'd be proud of you?" He knelt down next to Elena trying to get her to reason with him. "If you don't side with the humans, you're just as bad as them."

For the last time he tried to give her the stake. "Now kill her or I'll do it for you and I'll make it hurt. Get up!" Alaric forced Elena out of her seat and put the stake into her hand. For a moment she hesitated - then she tries to stake Alaric.

" I thought I taught you better than that." He told her, grabbing her wrist.

"You did." She grabbed the nearby cup filled with vervain and smashed it against Alaric's head not pausing for a moment to listen to his screams of pain. She rushed over to Caroline and undid her bindings. "Get help!"

**()()()()()()()**

Pain.

No. Not pain. Something else. Something warm.

It didn't burn anymore – it tingled. But it was like pins and needles, only it was all over my body. It was highly unpleasant.

On the plus side, I could now think about other things and boy was I thinking. For instance; where am I? Why can't I move? Why is my body not cooperating with me?

I felt something get pushed into my mouth. It was warm and liquid and it tasted really good.

Whatever it was, it was giving me the strength to hold onto the source. I could feel the liquid rushing into my mouth and oh my god did it taste good. Then I felt it being taken away from me. I growled and held on tighter but it did nothing.

I snapped my eyes open and began to hiss at whoever had dared to take it away. My eyes snapped to Klaus. "Oh good." He said. "Your awake. I was beginning to think that dear old Alaric had found a way to kill you."

He was in a happy mood. Why was he in a happy mood? Then I saw Elena strapped to a chair with a needle in her arm and blood dripping out of her into a bag and I knew why.

"What did you just feed me?" I asked, still hissing at him.

"Now, now. Is that any way to treat the person that just saved your life?" He asked, tutting as he did so. Oh I hated Klaus.

"Oh I can't wait till Alaric kills you." I spat. He just tutted again and turned to Elena.

"You see what I have to deal with? Jeremy should be thanking me for letting her live." I growled as he mentioned Jeremy's name and he smirked at me. "Oh but Ester made a very big mistake in tying Alaric to you. You see, by attempting to kill us, my mother strengthened the bond between my siblings and I. I don't need hybrids. I have my family."

"If you believe that, then why take my blood at all? You want a backup family." Elena asked. "You know that your siblings will never trust you again."

Klaus looked at her for a moment before answering. "You know, Stefan blames me for trying to tear him from his brother, but I think we both know who really came between them. You. That's why you won't choose. You know once you pick a Salvatore, you'll destroy their bond."

I saw Elena wince as Klaus moved closer to her and I hissed. "Don't move." He told me and that fucking bond rooted me to the spot.

"Consider this me doing you a favour. Once you're dead, you won't have to choose. No broken hearts. Their family stays intact. But just between us girls. Who would you have picked?"

"Rot in hell." I would have clapped for her if I was allowed to move but of course I couldn't so I just stood there and internally sniggered.

"You're welcome." I could hear the smile in his voice. Klaus was obviously not fazed by her. "Sweet dreams, Elena. It's been fun. Oh and Samantha dear, don't try and help her escape."

As soon as he left the room Elena began to struggle. In the process, she managed to let a bit of blood loose and suddenly the whole room was filled with the scent of her blood.

It was hypnotising and delicious and I wanted it.

"What are you doing?" I jumped slightly, and then I noticed she was talking to Tyler. That's right, because Mr I'm – in – love broke the fucking sire bond. "Tyler."

"So much for that sire bond." My eyes moved to Klaus and I wondered how long he had been standing there. It couldn't have been that long; Tyler had only just gotten here.

"I'm not your little bitch anymore." I snorted. That was nice for some.

"How did you break the sire bond?" Klaus asked. It sounded like he was just a bit curious but more to the point, it sounded like he wanted to crush Tyler's heart in his bare hands.

"By breaking every bone in my body a hundred times for the girl I love."

"And why didn't you tell me about this impossible little feat?" I suddenly wanted to yawn. This was incredibly boring and not very funny.

"You didn't ask." He fumed and looked like he wanted to kill me. That was a look I had seen a lot in my time with Klaus but hey, if he didn't ask, I had nothing to answer.

"You know, you should be thanking me. I gave you a gift. I took away your misery." Aaanndd suddenly the attention had moved on from me. Hmm, I was in two minds about this. This could work in my favour, or it could be very annoying. At the moment, it was annoying because what I really wanted Tyler to do was let Elena out so I could hit her for being stupid enough to be caught in the first place. It wouldn't be fair to do so if she was strapped to a chair.

There was a sudden movement as Klaus tried to rip Tyler's heart out of his chest, but Tyler managed to get out of the hold just in time for Damon and Stefan to come into the room.

In a flurry of movement, Klaus screamed and then was still. I took it as him being either dead or not moving. Knowing out luck, it was probably the latter but hey, a girl could dream.

"Hey, are you okay?" I heard Damon ask Elena. She nodded and he seemed to be fine with that – even though she had lost copious amounts of blood that I could still smell and it smelt so good. I wanted it. I _needed _it.

Without thinking I blurred over to Elena and clamped down onto her wrist. She screamed and tried to pull away but I only held on closer. Her fear was good - it made her heart beat faster.

Then suddenly I was thrown against the wall.

I snapped out of my craze for blood and wiped my mouth - it was covered in blood. Elena's blood. I looked over to her and saw the fear in her eyes and I panicked. "I'm so sorry." I whispered.

Damon made a move towards me but I didn't give him the chance. I flew out of there and rushed towards anywhere that would stop me from drinking someone.

Something was wrong with me.

I couldn't drink human blood, it repulsed me. It was a horrible little side effect of being a vampire/witch hybrid. So if I just did that then something was seriously wrong.

**{}{}{}{}{}{}**

They were all there sitting around each other celebrating being alive and I didn't think I should have joined them. I had nearly drained Elena today and I would have carried on if it hadn't been for Damon. I couldn't put them in any danger.

So I walked away.

I walked down the street to the cold, empty house that no-one knew about. I had hidden where I had lived for so long; my grandfather had looked after me until I turned fourteen and then he had left me.

No training, no warning of what I was or what was to come. I theorized that he had died but I had no actual idea. He had left me with a clue though. It had taken me years to figure it out but eventually I did.

He had left me a Grimoire. It was old and filled with thick pages but it was all in Latin. Like I knew anything in Latin. That was a bloody nuisance. Still, after I had turned, I was able to learn things much quicker. I took a Latin class and eventually, I figured out what was in the book.

It was more like a diary than a spell book - though there where one or two spells in there that where helpful.

Up in the attic, I opened the Grimoire and turned it to a familiar page. Ductu Bombus - The Guidance Spell.

**"**_**Amore perditus invoco Spiritum. Quis deducet me in meo indicate mihi ingessit."**_

Just as it had every other time, a faint blue mist surrounded the room and it got colder and silvery orbs surrounded me. They caressed me, their whispering touches. I closed my eyes and waited for her to come.

"Hello Sam." The hard voice of my grandmother called out to me and l opened my eyes and took her in. Her familiar dark skin and curly hair, her odd blue-grey eyes, her thin lips.

"Hey Grandma."

"What do you need this time?" She asked. She was cold and I think she resented the fact that my father had married a Blake witch. Apparently, they weren't as powerful so the offspring would never reach their full potential. Oh how I loved being called the offspring. It just made me sound like a delightful little experiment.

That, and the fact that I was a vampire that had kept her witch powers and dear old Gran was screwing. "Something is wrong with me."

**{}{}{}{}{}{}**

They had never really gotten round to finishing painting Ric's room when everything had happened so I decided to start it again. It needed to be finished.

Was it only a day ago that Alaric had been telling me to watch over Elena? It couldn't have been. Just like it couldn't have been only a few hours ago that Sam and I were having a paint war. I smiled at the memory of her rolling in paint, the scowl on her face but it changed to a frown when I remembered I hadn't seen her.

It wasn't like her to leave without saying goodbye to everyone. Without saying goodbye to me. Iwas worried. Today had only proved that just because Sam was powerful didn't make her invincible. She could have died today and I wouldn't have known until it was too late.

I heard footsteps and turned to see Elena watching him. "Hey. Everyone gone?"

"It's just us." Elena answered. I nodded but held back asking her if she knew where Sam had gone.

"I hate this room." I told her instead. It was the easier option. Elena didn't approve off our relationship - whatever relationship that might be. It had been fine when she was human but Elena's attitude towards her had changed drastically after Sam had turned.

"Me too. Mom and Dad were right. Alaric should just kill all the vampires and put an end to all of this.

"But then that means that Caroline dies and Bonnie loses her mom, the mayor loses her son and I lose Stefan and Damon. So if it makes me the bad guy for wanting to keep those people alive, then fine, I'll be the bad guy."

I shook my head, not wanting to listen to what she had to say. "You forget that Alaric never wanted any of this. Once he carries out his plans, what if he decides he doesn't want to live anymore and he kills his human connection to end his life? That would mean I would lose you. I'm not gonna let that happen." Not to you or to Sammy. No one else is going to die.

Elena smiled so I gave her a returning one before chucking down the paintbrush. "I'm gonna shower and get some sleep. Goodnight, Elena."

"Goodnight." I heard her say. "Wait - Jeremy?" She called. I turned towards her and looked expectantly. "I need to tell you something…something about Sam."

Worry and confusion rushed into my head. "Sam? What's wrong with her?" I asked.

Elena bit her lip for a moment, looking away from me. "I don't want you around her anymore." She told him bluntly. Just like that, my confusion turned to anger at her words.

"No. You can't tell me to stay away from-"

"She bit be Jer." Elena said. I froze, not believing what she had just said.

"What?" I asked.

"She bit me. She drank from me and she enjoyed it." No, no this was Sam Elena was talking about. Sammy would never do something like that - she wouldn't.

"I don't believe you." I whispered. Elena had gone too far, it was one thing if she didn't like that we spent time together, it was another to try and stop us completely.

"It's true Jer. I wouldn't lie to you." And she wouldn't. Elena wouldn't lie to me but that left the question of whether or not Sammy had bitten her. But she wouldn't do that would she? "I'm sorry Jeremy, I really am." Elena told me.


End file.
